Monday, 15 December 2014

When it comes to batteries, reducing the size is almost as important as increasing the storage capacity.

Now, scientists have come up with a new nanosize battery that is 80,000 thinner than a human hair. The impact on industries such as green energy, which currently requires huge batteries to store the energy for when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind does blow, and electric vehicles, that have limit range due to battery capacity, could be huge.

The latest breakthrough in reducing battery size is known as a “nanopore”. It is a microscopic hole in a ceramic sheet that is about as thick as a grain of salt. This sheet contains all the components required for a working battery and for electric current production. One billion of these holes could fit into the size of a postage stamp.